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Feud with renowned underworld figure is unlikely to end soon Mick Gatto reckons he’s a “fruitloop”. But Jamal Khan doesn’t care, and says the underworld figure and industrial mediator owes him millions of dollars.
Framed by panoramic views of Port Phillip and Melbourne’s skyscrapers, Khan stands among mannequins in his 14th floor penthouse fussing over beads and pearls.
Fondling Turkish and Chinese silk haute couture gowns, a chunky gold chain hangs over his black satin shirt as the flamboyant former restaurateur, ex-nightclub security boss and current fashion and jewellery designer moves around his high-rise Port Melbourne penthouse and its ostentatious golden lamps and mirrors.
Just for a moment, Khan seems to forget about the focus of his rage, Mick Gatto – specifically the $4m he wants – and focuses on his mannequins.
‘‘Some (outfits) will take a few months, some will take a few weeks (to make),’’ he tells The Australian. ‘‘Like this jacket with Swarovski crystals,’’ he says, touching the sleeve of a mannequin, modelling a silver jacket.
‘‘Takes three months (to make) … (it will sell for) 28 to 29 grand, and it cost me eleven thousand. When I launch (a fashion label) then I will be in the market.” But Khan quickly returns to Gatto and the millions of dollars he claims the Carlton Crew identity owes him. A debt, he says, racked up over more than two decades of deals and business arrangements between the men.
“Four million. Maybe I am forgetting lots, but it’s about four million,” he tells The Australian.
One moment Pakistani-born Khan, who moved to Melbourne in the late 1990s, reflects on Gatto calmly, the next he’s launching into expletive laden anger.
The Australian has chosen not to detail Khan’s specific allegations against Gatto (all of which are strongly denied by Gatto) that he claims resulted in the $4m debt to him and his family in Pakistan.
“Other people, family, are here for their money. They are here to sort him out. They don’t care about any rules or anything,” he says during an interview four months ago. “All of this has to be stopped. Pay my four million or I will...